Patent Grant
8738180
The present disclosure relates to the control of a robot during an emergency stop (e-stop) event in a moving robotic assembly line.
The movement of work product through different assembly stations or work cells has led to dramatic improvements in production yield and efficiency. Some robot-assisted assembly lines convey a product to the different work cells via an overhead or an underbody carrier, and then stop the product at a particular cell. Robots may perform assigned work tasks before the line is restarted. In other assembly line configurations, the robot may track assembly line motion and perform automated tasks on the moving product.
The synchronized motion of a moving assembly line presents unique control challenges. For instance, the robot's motion must be sufficiently coordinated with the motion of the assembly line, e.g., a particular carrier which transports the work piece to the different stations or cells in the plant. Once proper alignment is achieved between the robot and the work piece, and once the robotic assembly task commences, the robot and to-be-assembled work piece are in mutual contact. In this contact phase of control, the robot's motion is controlled as a function of the contact forces between the end of arm/end effector of the robot and the product.
Moving robotic assembly lines are also equipped with a host of safety devices such as pressure mats, gates, light curtains, manual stop buttons, and other emergency stop (e-stop) devices. Typically, triggering of an e-stop event immediately stops the robot. However, if an e-stop event occurs during the contact phase of control, the disruption of synchronized motion between the robot and the product may be abrupt. In some instances this disruption can lead to a collision between end effector and product, and as a result, an undesirable, albeit transient, impact force on the product and robot end effector.
A system is disclosed herein for minimizing and evaluating contact forces to a product in a plant, particularly during an emergency stop (e-stop) event in the contact phase of robotic control. An assembly robot has an end of arm tool/end effector in mutual contact with the product on a carrier during the contact phase of assembly. The carrier moves the product through the plant as noted above, e.g., the product is positioned on the carrier such that carrier pins align with mating holes or other features of the product. When an e-stop event is active, the assembly robot is controlled in a particular manner as set forth herein to minimize contact forces acting on the product.
In particular, a system is disclosed for use in a work cell having a carrier that moves a product along an assembly line. The system includes an assembly robot, a tracking sensor, and a controller. The assembly robot has a robotic arm and a moveable platform. The robotic arm moves on the platform adjacent to the carrier via a motor. The sensor measures a changing position of the carrier and encodes the changing position as a position signal. The controller is in communication with the assembly robot and the tracking sensor, and thus receives the position signal from the tracking sensor.
The controller then calculates a lag value of the assembly robot with respect to the carrier, doing so as a function of the position signal. The controller also detects a requested e-stop of the assembly robot when the robotic arm and the product are in mutual contact, and selectively transmits a speed signal to the motor. Upon receipt of the speed signal, the motor decelerates the platform at a calibrated rate while stopping the carrier. This occurs only when the calculated tracking position lag value is above a calibrated threshold.
A method is also disclosed for use in the work cell. The method includes moving a robotic arm of an assembly robot on a moveable platform that is positioned adjacent to the carrier, and measuring a changing position of the carrier using a tracking sensor. The method further includes encoding the changing position as a position signal, transmitting the position signal to a controller, and calculating a lag value of the assembly robot via the controller with respect to the carrier as a function of the position signal. Additionally, the method includes detecting a requested e-stop of the assembly robot when the arm and the product are in mutual contact, and selectively transmitting a speed signal from the controller to the assembly robot only when the calculated tracking position lag value is above a calibrated threshold. The speed signal causes a calibrated deceleration of the platform to occur.
The above features and advantages and other features and advantages of the present invention are readily apparent from the following detailed description of the best modes for carrying out the invention when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Referring to the drawings wherein like reference numbers correspond to like or similar components throughout the several figures, and beginning with
A platform 26 travels adjacent to the conveyor line 12, e.g., on rails 32 which run alongside, above, below, or otherwise adjacent to the conveyor line 12. The rails 32 may run substantially parallel to the conveyor line 12. While omitted for simplicity, substantially identical rails 32 may be located on the other side of the conveyor line 12 to perform similar work tasks on the opposite side of the product 16. The rails 32 may include a motor 33 which engages the rails 32 or any other suitable drive mechanism which causes the platform 26 to translate along the rails 32 in the directions indicated by double headed arrow 28. In another embodiment, the platform 26 may be maintained on an autonomous vehicle with or without connection to the rails 32.
The structure of the conveyor line 12 and the rails 32 may vary with the particular embodiment and intended use. For instance, the conveyor line 12 and/or the rails 32 may be configured as a floor-mounted or overhead rail, track, slot, or any other structure which guides the carrier 14 and the platform 26 in a controlled manner in the direction of arrow 18. The work cell 10 has a length defined by respective start/stop boundaries 20, 22. Thus, the carrier 14 effectively enters the work cell 10 when it crosses boundary 20 and exits the work cell 10 when it crosses boundary 22.
An emergency stop (e-stop) event may be triggered by an e-stop device 40 at any time, including during the contact phase in work cell 10. E-stop events occurring during the contact phase can introduce substantial impulsive contact forces to the product 16. Such contact forces are due largely to the abruptly broken synchronized motion between the carrier 14 and platform 26. In other words, any physically engaged components of the robot 30 and the product 16 at the moment an e-stop event is triggered will tend to oppose each other, and thus cause a potentially large reactive contact force to occur at their engaged surfaces.
Referring briefly to
Referring again to
The controller 50 may be configured as a host machine or a server having a central processing unit (CPU) 52 and memory 54, the latter of which may include tangible/non-transitory memory on which is recorded the instructions which embody the present method 100. Memory 54 may include, for instance, magnetic read only memory (ROM), electric random access memory (RAM), electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, etc. The controller 50 may also include circuitry including but not limited to a high-speed clock, analog-to-digital (A/D) circuitry, digital-to-analog (D/A) circuitry, a digital signal processor, and any necessary input/output (I/O) devices and other signal conditioning and/or buffer circuitry. The controller 50 may include a receiver 55 in electrical/signals communication with a tracking sensor 25.
The controller 50 may also include an optional modeling module 58 which estimates contact forces for various scenarios, and then evaluates the effects on the product 16 of these forces. For instance, the modeling module 58 may model the effect on static equilibrium of the product 16 of
The tracking sensor 25 may be positioned with respect to the conveyor line 12. Such a tracking sensor 25 measures the changing position of the carrier 14 and the product 16. The sensor 25 may be an electro-optical device such as a camera, although other sensor embodiments may be used without departing from the intended inventive scope. The sensor 25 encodes the measured position as a position signal (arrow 45) and transmits the measured position signal (arrow 45) to the controller 50. Thus, the controller 50 is able to determine the changing position of the carrier 14 in the cell 10, and thus its speed, by processing the position signals (arrow 45) as received from the sensor 25.
The controller 50 is also in communication with the e-stop device 40. The e-stop device 40 may be an e-stop button, a light curtain, a pressure mat, a gate, or any other device which manually or automatically signals that the robot 30 should quickly stop. Other conditions may trigger an e-stop event, for instance the detected presence of an object in the path of line 12 and/or the rail 32. Regardless of how the e-stop event is triggered, the e-stop device 40 transmits an e-stop signal (arrow 42) to the controller 50. The e-stop signal (arrow 42) and the position signal (arrow 45) are received by the receiver 55 and processed by the CPU 52 during execution of the method 100. Control signals (arrow 44) are then transmitted by the controller 50 to the motor 33 or other actuator to control the speed and deceleration of the platform 26 in the manner set forth below.
Referring to
At step 104, the controller 50 calculates an instantaneous line speed (V) and its moving average (Va) of the carrier 14 over a calibrated interval. The method 100 then proceeds to step 106.
At step 106, the controller 50 next calculates the required control signals (arrow 44) for speed control of the motor 33, with such speed control producing substantially synchronized motion of the platform 26 and the conveyor line 12. Specifically, step 106 includes transmitting to the motor 33, via the control signals (arrow 44), a speed command which causes the platform 26 to move at the calculated moving average line speed (Va) determined at step 104. This helps to smooth the motion of the platform 26 without causing significant position lag in step 108 below.
At step 108, the controller 50 of
Δx=∫(V−Va)dt
At step 110, the controller 50 determines if a set of conditions is satisfied. In particular, the controller 50 checks whether an e-stop event is active, which is known from receipt of e-stop signal (arrow 42), and whether the instantaneous tracking position lag value (Δx) exceeds a calibrated lag threshold. The controller 50 proceeds to step 111 only if both conditions are satisfied. Otherwise, the controller 50 proceeds to step 112.
At step 111, the controller 50 may control the linear rail motor 33 with a calibrated line speed profile. This speed imparts a predetermined deceleration profile to the motor 33. The calibrated line speed profile may be determined experimentally and recorded in memory 54 of the controller 50. The speed profile may be executed with assistance by any suitable means, such as electromagnetic, torque, and/or friction braking. Alternatively, drive power to motor 33 may be interrupted, such as by tripping a power switch to break the power feed to the rail motor 33, thus causing the platform 26 to decelerate in its natural state without braking. The e-stop signal (arrow 42) is then transmitted to the carrier 14. The method 100 proceeds to step 112.
At step 112, the controller 50 calculates an instantaneous speed adjustment, J−1Δx, for each control loop for the end effector 31. As understood in the art, J−1 is the inverse Jacobian matrix that is a function of the various mechanical links and joint angles of the robot 30. This value is transmitted as part of the control signals (arrow 44).
The present method 100 should be used in conjunction with a vigorous evaluation process to determine the maximum allowable contact forces for the particular product being assembled. Since the size, materials, and mass of the product 16 of
An example hub 60 is shown in
Individual contact force at each independent contact point may be difficult to measure. However, the summarized energy (δ) may be experimentally measured, and the contact forces thereafter estimated for each contact surface by assuming an equal distribution. In equal distribution, the summarized energy (δ) may be approximated as:
The individual forces may then be analyzed as needed, for instance with respect to force distribution within a given hole 64 and the effects of this force on the particular thread pattern of a bolt (not shown) contained therein.
For instance, one may evaluate whether the threaded stud is plastically deformed after the impact, i.e., the stud has suffered a global permanent structural change, or whether the thread surface has become locally deformed, i.e., a local permanent structural change. For the initial evaluation, estimation may be simplified by assuming the stud is a solid cylinder that is rigidly attached to the hub 60. In a subsequent evaluation, detailed contact areas between thread and hole 64 may be modeled, e.g., using height of the hole 64, the number of threads in contact with the material defining the hole 64. Solid mechanical structural modeling may be used, such as finite element analysis, to conduct as detailed of an assessment as desired.
The impact on the robot 30 may also be considered. For the robotic assembly 30, contact forces will introduce additional torque to each robotic joint. The effect is similar to a collision between the end effector 31 at the end of a robotic arm and the environment, i.e., the robot 30 will abruptly change the linear velocity of the end effector 31 at the contact point. Each joint will experience additional forces due to the external collision while the joint servo motors are applying emergency stop torques to stop the motion of the robot 30.
Due to the engaged assembly contact at the robot end of arm tool/end effector 31, each robot joint will experience additional torque due to the external collision force as follows:
AΔ{right arrow over (v)}r(t)={right arrow over (F)}r(t) (2)
Δ{right arrow over (v)}=JΔ{right arrow over (q)}(t) (3)
HΔ{right arrow over (q)}(t)=τ′(t) (4)
τ′(t)=HJTA−1Fr(t) (5)
where {right arrow over (F)}r(t) is the external impulsive collision force applied at the end effector 31, Δ{right arrow over (v)}(t) is the abrupt linear speed change at the end effector 31, A is a 6×6 symmetric, positive-definite inertia matrix in the task (operational) space, J is a 6×n Jacobian matrix that is a function of robot mechanical links and their structure, Δ{right arrow over (q)}(t) is the abrupt joint speed change due to external impulsive collision force, H is an n×n symmetric, positive-definite generalized inertia matrix, and τ′(t) is the additional torque to compensate the abrupt joint motion.
Of equations (2)-(5) listed above, equation (2) is the linear speed change (Δ{right arrow over (v)}r(t) of the end effector 31 under the impulsive impact force {right arrow over (F)}r(t) in the task (operational) space. Equation (3) is the classic Jacobian equation that relates joint speed and end effector speed. Equation (4) is the impulsive joint torque, τ′(t), that can overcome the abrupt joint speed change due to the impact. Equation (5) is the additional joint torques that should be applied to withstand the external impulsive impact force at the end effector 31.
On the robot side of work station 10, equation (5) demonstrates that the additional joint torques depend on the robot pose as well as the robotic mechanical link parameters expressed as the HJTA−1 matrix. To minimize the environmental collision impact on the robot's joints, the matrix should be minimized. This means that some robot poses or joint positions can better withstand the impact than other poses. In a non-redundant six degree of freedom robot, the joint position is often chosen by the position of the product 16, e.g., a wheel and tire assembly location. Therefore, no other robot joint positions can be chosen to minimize the collision impact to all joint motors.
Referring to
Holes (not shown) receiving the two front carrier pins 72 will endure the impulsive force due to the external collision with the end effector 31 at a wheel assembly 70 of
Forces and torques may be balanced as follows:
where {right arrow over (F)}vb(t) is the external impulsive collision force with the end effector 31 at the wheel assembly location; {right arrow over (F)}p1(t) is the internal impulsive reactive force at the location p1 in
Assuming both front carrier pins 72 can withstand peak contact forces with no damage to the mating hole structures, vehicle body equilibrium is stable when the height of the wheel assembly 70 is at the samer height as the pins 72, i.e., Hw
Referring to
Furthermore, the collision force is on the same plane as the carrier pins 72, 172. Thus, the analysis can be simplified to a planar collision problem. The impulsive dynamics will follow the classical equations of linear and angular momentum for rigid body motion as follows:
Where {right arrow over (F)}vb(t) is the external impulsive collision force with the end effector 31 at the location of the wheel assembly 70, {right arrow over (τ)}vb(t) is the external impulsive collision force with respect to one of the front pins, M is the vehicle body mass, Δ{right arrow over (v)} is the translational velocity change of body 60 from the initial zero speed, Ipin is the moment of inertia of the body 60 about carrier pin 172, and Δ{right arrow over (ω)} is the angular velocity change of body 60 from the initial zero speed.
Thus, a given impact force may be evaluated with respect to its actual deformation and/or displacement of a given component of the product 16 of
The optional modeling module 58 of
While the best modes for carrying out the invention have been described in detail, those familiar with the art to which this disclosure relates will recognize various alternative designs and embodiments for practicing the invention within the scope of the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20130158709 A1 | Jun 2013 | US |
